TikTok is upending the music industry

[Teletubby 117,731]

TikTok is turning the music business on its head by increasingly becoming a hit-making machine. Artists can go from obscurity to global superstardom, thanks to a viral video that could be posted by a complete stranger. Even Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” reentered the charts in 2020 after a clip of a man drinking cranberry juice on a skateboard exploded on the app. 

Record labels are trying to figure out how to profit in the new TikTok-dominated world and to make sure they’re not getting left behind.
“If a song is going viral on TikTok, and the artist is unsigned, and as a result, it’s getting a million streams on Spotify, the labels are scrambling to sign that song or that artist" says music industry analyst. "They’re obsessed with expanding their market share and making sure they don’t lose any market share to independent artists.”

In 2021, over 175 songs that trended on TikTok charted on the Billboard Hot 100, twice as many as the prior year.

In terms of the current flow of dollars in the music industry, TikTok’s main influence lies in its ability to push listeners to services like Apple Music and Spotify.

TikTok hasn’t fully capitalized on the phenomenon, but in May, ByteDance (TikTok owner), filed a trademark application for “TikTok Music”. The service would allow users to play, share, purchase and download music, according to the filing. 

Jeremy Skaller, co-founder of the management, media and production company, warned of the risks of skyrocketing to fame that can come with TikTok’s virality. Not everyone is prepared for what comes next, he said.

Even established artists are facing challenges on TikTok. Halsey complained recently about the pressure to post on the app, writing in a TikTok video, “My record company is saying that i can’t release unless they can fake a viral moment on TikTok.”

Artists used to rely on their label for marketing. But with TikTok fame, they’re now doing much of their promotion themselves. It’s just a hugely demanding thing for artists, in addition to everything else that they’re already doing,” which is frustrating for a lot of them.

Loren Medina (owner of Guerrera PR) said music marketing is a “different world” than it was 10 years ago. Historically, for artists to make it, they needed to be a priority for a label that would be willing to back them financially. 
Labels are still very important in the industry, but they are not the end all be all. 
Artists are now using the huge audiences they reach on TikTok to create a dedicated fan base that can end up buying lots of merchandise and filling up bars and concert halls.

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[Anderson123 31,136]

Tik Tok is insane and not only music but any other business can get a viral video and have their sales skyrocket. This is pretty good for indie artists and small businesses if used right or sometimes accidental lol.

[RAMROD 96,460]

I already told y'all. Some of you were still adamant that toktok will gone in few years. They are passed that point now. It won't be Myspace case for them. 

[Siena 4,879]

Tiktok is great for helping new and indie artists get recognition, and also for bringing a new audience to older songs. But it also has created sooooooo many songs that are forgotten as soon as they aren't a trend anymore. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of one new release in the last few years that was massive on tiktok, but is still relevant now (other than Doja Cat).

[Teletubby 117,731]

3 minutes ago, Siena said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of one new release in the last few years that was massive on tiktok, but is still relevant now (other than Doja Cat).

The Weeknd - Blinding Lights 
Glass Animals - Heat Waves
The Kid LAROI, Justin Bieber - STAY
Lizzo - About Damn Time 

[Starmie25 8,530]

The amount of songs from different decades that have experienced new peaks and longevity due to tiktok trends is both insane, but cool -

Running up that Hill - Kate Bush

Say it Right/Promiscuous - Nelly Furtado

Dreams - Fleetwood Mac 

Angeleyes - ABBA 

Rasputin - Boney M 

Happiness - Alexis J

[Moonlight on Water 13,677]

ok but dreams from fleetwood mac will always be iconic, even when the Planets Of The Universe.mp3 are gone

[Dojo 19,365]

yuh, i have 3 tiktok accounts apart from personal and trying to grow them all w different content

[VTV 10,790]

Start of an era for TTM?
End of an era for the other music platform ig?

[hausofgay 558]

Kylie's Can't You Out of My Head having it's revival on TikTok after 20 years of release

[RAMROD 96,460]

3 hours ago, Staryu17 said:

 

Running up that Hill - Kate Bush

 

This one is netflix doing. 

[Obobo 2,129]

yeah and I hate it. Now I see these labels pushing out sponsored posts for their artist's cringey attempts at tiktok trends.  I love see those organic trends tho but labels pushing tiktok probably confirms less budget for music videos, singles and TV performances and more budget for paid tiktok boosting (which I've been seeing a lot lately).

[DNYX 50]

The current world does not care about music as a form of art. It just cares about music as a form of meme

[Teletubby 117,731]

26 minutes ago, Obobo said:

yeah and I hate it. Now I see these labels pushing out sponsored posts for their artist's cringey attempts at tiktok trends.  I love see those organic trends tho but labels pushing tiktok probably confirms less budget for music videos, singles and TV performances and more budget for paid tiktok boosting (which I've been seeing a lot lately).

people don't watch videos on youtube anymore, TV shows & award shows have low rating. investing in it is a waste of money. artists get more exposure from viral moments on social media than from regular promo.

TikTok users are just jumping from one trend to another so it's very difficult for artists to build longevity. That girl with viral tiktok song "abcdfu" got 5M streams daily but when she released 2nd song it barely received 130k streams. the labels will probably sign a lot of young artists with viral hits to profit from them but won't let them release albums since they won't be able to get another hit.

[ALGAYDO 26,383]

Wasn’t Megan’s Savage one of the first songs that got HUGE because of TT? That was impressive as hell. But TTs are starting to get annoying because you can just tell that people are desperately trying to make a trend, and it’s soooooo cringey